quest

Apprentices of the New Age by Jan Engels-Smith

Each summer LightSong offers a workshop on Telepathic Communication outdoors in a camp situation. This workshop is a practicum for my LV2 Practical Shaman class and we use the template of the vision quest to experience the profound magic of telepathic communication. Set in Tillamook, Oregon, the land we use is beautiful, with tall trees and lush greenery. The scene is very much like a magical fairy garden, only our garden is 143 acres. I love this land and the opportunity to commune with nature in all its majesty and simplicity.

I recently returned home from this year’s practicum and my whole being reverberates with the blessings, love, and appreciation that we generate when we are together.

This was LightSong’s 26th practicum/quest. The spirits have told me that many of the previous quests have been leading up to this experience and the next quest in 2012. The spirits have revealed a galactic call for the gathering of “beings” from all over the universe to watch, participate and marvel at what has happened in the past and what is to happen in the future as we gather on the land and create a positive vortex of monumental proportions.

Our mission these next two years is to mid-wife the planet as she ascends into her predicted planetary evolution creating a shift in humankind and all other earthly inhabitants. We are in the transition to a prophesied time marked by the ending of three major time period cycles:
· 5,121-year cycle
· 26,000-year cycle
· 62 million-year cycle

The shift to a new age from an era that has lasted for several millennia is happening now.

As I wrote in the spiritual predictions for 2011 published by New Connexions, this year will require very conscious decisions about reality because 2011 portends a time of a dimensional split creating two alternative realities on the earth. This will be a year of great challenges and potential discord because this alteration has the power to split you off from your true spiritual self and from the spiritual path that you seek.

This recently completed practicum gave us essential tools to help those who seek a higher spiritual quality but who have gotten caught in a vortex of false reality. The positive alternate dimensional reality that is available offers the opportunity to embrace one’s true spiritual self more strongly and to reach a goal of peace and tranquility.

The essential tool is appreciation. At the practicum, each morning I journey about the theme of the camp and what the teachings are that set the tone of energy we generate collectively. These journeys have turned into explicit channelings where the information flows out of me and is recorded. This information is invaluable in its substance and clarity in providing direction and a sense of purpose. I will be sharing much of this knowledge in the next few months through my newsletter and other published materials I will make available through the internet.

Our goal in camp is to reach ascension, which is a higher vibratory consciousness that this new dimensional reality offers. The spirits clearly stated that this reality is expressed in the body by the feeling of appreciation. Appreciation as it is understood in this context extends beyond mere gratitude or thankfulness, which are certainly positive qualities. Appreciation is an easier emotion to generate and a higher emotion than joy, but one that we often neglect. Everyone can appreciate something and be consumed with the feeling, whereas the feeling of joy or gratitude can be more challenging to express, especially in difficult situations.

You are surrounded by an infinite number of things that you can appreciate. If you can read this you have the gift of sight and an education that has allowed you to read. Wow, appreciate that. You must also have a computer or access to a computer and the internet to read this. Double Wow! That is miraculous. Feel that deep within yourself, open your heart, look around your world and appreciate. Your effortless movement toward a new consciousness of all that appreciation has to offer will create gateways for you into the emerging new dimension. Your appreciation will serve as a preparation of your spirit to not only align to the new age, but to help create the new reality. We are the creators and apprentices and our appreciation will reveal the way forward.

Internal Quest: Merging With Your True Self by Jan Engels-Smith

A sculptor was once asked how he created such marvelous results from the stone he worked. He replied, “If I want to carve an elephant in stone, I simply chip away all of the stone that does not look like an elephant.”

The artist’s creative process involved finding the inherent qualities of the stone and revealing them to the eye. The challenge is to find the truth within the medium.

The sculptor’s statement is relevant to the process of self-realization as well. In our efforts to find ourselves, we often believe it necessary to reinvent or alter ourselves into someone entirely different from who we are. We overlook the inherent truth within ourselves. Becoming ourselves is the process of chipping away that which is not us and discovering the self that has always existed. Becoming who we are is finding the divine self — the work of exquisite art — the universe embedded in our soul. Becoming who we are — the true “us” — is a path to healing and enlightenment.

Finding our true self, however, is not easily achieved. It requires letting go of previously held ideas, or “states of mind,” and uncovering the wisdom available in our own heart. Western rational thought has emphasized the analytical examination of self through scientific and qualitative means. However, reaching an understanding of self through purely analytical means is as futile as if the artist were to create purely from analysis of form and not from the creative powers of heart and soul. The journey from head to heart results in the integration of the total self — mind, heart, and soul.

We are born as our true self; unwounded and an expression of the divine. In the ideal world our parents, extended family, teachers and culture would validate this awareness of the divine. But we don’t live in an ideal world so layers of untruths are delivered to us and often we accept them as truth. The true self becomes buried or lost and it is our internal quest to find it. The true self is unwounded, has no problems, no judgments, and can live free. The true self is heart centered not ego centered. The true self is only unconditional love, again an expression of the divine incarnate.

The spirits tell me that most people interact and communicate from wound to wound. Since wounds monopolize thinking they then monopolize belief systems that develop in our maturation process. The wounds become imbedded and are mistaken for the core. In the process of self-actualization a discovery process of the true self is initiated. At first the true self may seem like a concept, or an idea, yet the reality and actual experience of it is elusive. Conscious action is needed to actually define the true self into a 3D reality expression.

Merging with the true self is a first step in the embodiment of this version of self. Merging is envisioning you in your highest version — the qualities that would make you feel vivacious, vital, thriving and alive, all of the abilities/qualities you wished you displayed in life, including your perfect appearance, perfect health, perfect intellect — in your most dynamic self, then inviting that version to enter into your body. Even though this idea implies that the true self is outside of a person, it is a virtual practice that has merit. Often the true self is so removed from the reality of an individual that the idea of an outside merge has great value. Incorporating the true self for even a moment can be beneficial to retrain the subtle body fields (emotional, mental, and physical) in how it feels to move into this energy construct.

The more the merge is practiced the easier it becomes and the longer the merge can hold. Like most merges there is a training period of focus that needs to develop in an individual that eventually allows the individual to move or speak without losing the merge. Also merges are never 100% in the beginning. I don’t use the word never very often but in this case it is appropriate. If you think of a merge on a scale of 0-100% most people would fall in the 2-5% range in the beginning. This percentage grows according to practice and self-evaluation. I am so convinced that merging is the way to teach the subtle body fields another reality that I have dedicated one of my classes — LV3 — to this activity.

Even with astute concentration, dedication, and practice I have never witnessed a 100% merge in my students or any of my teachers in the United States. John of God in Brazil has come the closest to that level. Regardless, any progress that a person makes is beneficial to the quest of self-actualization.

A question might be posed: Why would anyone want to self-actualize? Living in the True Self holds that key for the highest expression of the Aquarian Age that is upon us. The true self holds no judgment; has no wounds; is not fragmented in any way; has no past history that determines the present or future; allows all others to shine; lives in a state of ecstasy, a form of joy and peace that is foundational and generated from the core; has a broadcast of instant manifestation for the good of all without comparison, competition, or scarcity. There is only good and a deep pleasure of another’s gain. There is applause in the win-win, and a well-developed appreciation for another person’s perspective.

This being is mature and childlike at the same time, led by the heart and only the heart. This person would not have disease, allergies, hardship, because those ailments are all created or interpreted as wounds or difficulties. This person only radiates brilliance consistently. If more people incorporated and embodied their true self there would be no war, no pollution, no contaminants, because those things are all created from negative thoughts. Life and the world would become unified. The oneness that we desire would manifest, the utopia unveiled.

We carry this power to achieve and create this reality within us. We were all born with it because we were all born in the state of grace and as an expression of the divine. Each of us can choose to incorporate our true self more and more each day. With that decision more and more energy is broadcast into the universe that spreads and creates the thoughtform of peace.

You cannot create peace if you are angry with what is happening in the world. They are incongruent energies and do not match. The true self is not angry with what is happening in the world, because the true self is not angry about anything. The external world is a reflection of the internal world. It is ineffective and actually energetically outdated to think that you can change what you don’t like by taking a stand against it. That type of thinking only creates more of what you don’t like. You contribute to the problem and do nothing to improve it.

The new millennium, the Aquarian age, the prophetic times that we are immersed in now all point to the internal quest. How are you being, how are you thinking, how are you believing? This age is bringing the empowerment back to the people. Empowerment requires responsibility and accountability. It is easy to blame others, but empowered people don’t blame. They are consistently aware of what they are doing and making strides in self-actualization.

Unity consciousness means that each individual affects the whole. When your beliefs change, you change and then the world changes. Look at what is veracious in yourself. Merging with the true self lets you feel this at a visceral level. Merging with compassionate healing spirits lets you feel this at a visceral level.

Shamanism is about working intimately with these compassionate healing spirits. Shamanism’s mission is to alleviate suffering in the world. This is done by alleviating the suffering inside one’s self. It is done by choosing joy, it is done by concentrating on appreciation and gratitude, it is done by being responsible and accountable to what type of energy you are contributing to life moment by moment, it is done by the commitment to learn how to do these processes and then being loyal to them. The beauty of this is astounding. There is no failure, no reprimand, no loss, no demands, there is only unconditional love.

un·con·di·tion·al (adjective) with no conditions or limitations. Complete or guaranteed, with no conditions, limitations, or provisos attached · unconditional love – no strings attached.

Quest Understanding Part 2 By Jan Engels-Smith

I started my personal quest for understanding through science, which led me to psychology, which led me to spirituality. I spent countless hours in workshops and seminars and earned university degrees along the way. My love for nature brought me to the study of science and ecology. My love for myself led me to psychology and the healing of my past, and my love for God led me to spirituality. My spiritual study initially seemed to move me away from my earlier scientific studies, but ultimately brought me back full circle. I now understand science and nature from the wisdom of spirituality. The circle, the hoop, and the medicine wheel I learned to love and honor from indigenous teachings, brought me back to the beginning. I now understand all of my studies to be one study; the art and science of universal consciousness. I no longer see the disciplines as separate, just as I no longer see myself as separate from anything or anyone. My spirit teachers are as real as my traditional teachers. The wisdom of the spirits is as valid as all of my university courses.

The ideas I present in this book are alternative and were learned from my interactions with the spiritual realm. The spirits have been my greatest teachers and my most beloved friends. I received some of the information during my own personal journeys, where I was put in what I called spirit school. “Journey” is the term used to describe the altered state of consciousness obtained in the process of interacting with the spiritual realm.

During this phase of my learning, the spirits fed me ideas so fast I had to use a tape recorder to keep up with the information. Other information came through working with clients during their soul retrievals (a shamanic form of healing) and counseling sessions. I blended this information with my understanding of science, energy, and psychology.

I provide personal experiences to illustrate my teachings, and I hope that you can add your own thoughts and experiences to personalize the information. As you read, please keep in mind that I endorse no particular way to do things; I merely propose methodologies that work. There are many ways to contact Spirit or God. The shamanic style of contacting spirits, healing, and being connected on a spiritual path, works well for my numerous clients and me. I hold no claim to any of these concepts; I simply explain things the way I understand them to be true.

Connection is your birthright; it does not come from someone else. Loving Spirit and desiring a relationship with Spirit helps your connection grow and develop. After all, if you want to walk the spiritual path, then you need to be working with Spirit. Each person has as much access to the spiritual realm as any other person. All people are spirits in individual form and all can connect to the spiritual realms at whatever level they choose.

I have found that walking the spiritual path takes willingness, dedication and love. I have to be willing to risk and try new things as they are presented to me; I have to be dedicated to advancing my skill level. Journeying is like any new skill; the more I practice the better I become.

I choose to be very connected to the spirits, and they have asked that I pass along my teachings. I do this with great humility and love. My whole intention is to be of service. Hopefully something in this book will add to your own quality of life.

Quest for Understanding Part 1 By Jan Engels-Smith

On a Quest for Understanding

My story is everybody’s story. My journey is remarkable as a spiritual journey always is, but it is available to all people. I consider myself to be an average American with average problems, but with a divine connection to Spirit. I love Spirit and I love life. I believe that one has everything to do with the other, but my life has not always been this way for me. I suffered a great deal in my youth as is the case for many individuals and have spent most of my adult life healing from things that happened to me as a child. I became intrigued with the concept of healing in the process of my own healing. I studied life from the perspective of science, psychology, indigenous cultures, and spirituality.

I have been a licensed therapist since 1984 and during much of that time; I worked as a shamanic healer. I have a full and fascinating practice, which has opened many doors of awareness for me. Healing, woundedness, growth, and the enfoldment of the soul intrigue me and propel me on a journey of exploration and discovery. What is life all about? Why do people become so wounded? How do they heal? Why does it take so long for some to heal? Why aren’t people happy? Why do so many focus on what happened in the past instead of what is happening in the present? What is the place of spirituality in all of this?

There are numerous books on psychology that give technical explanations to these questions; however, they left me unsatisfied. My mind understood the concepts, but my soul needed more. The biggest void in psychology seems to be in understanding the nature of the soul—the spiritual connection to healing. Just as there is more to life than what meets the eye, there is more to healing than what traditional psychology explains or what the intellect understands.

It is through my own exploration of self that I came into contact with Spirit and the wonder of the spiritual realm. Through numerous alternative therapies, I experienced a profound healing of mind, body, and soul. I have had incredible spiritual experiences and now plainly see that Spirit has provided me with these experiences so I could better understand my purpose in life.

While working as both a licensed professional counselor and a shamanic healer, I have found that many people are eager to learn and they want to heal. The continual cycle of unhappiness takes its toll moving people to look for a better way. They are tired of the pain and victimization and they are interested in having more power in their lives. We have a society crying out for change and for spiritual connection. As we move into the new millennium, our culture reflects a climate of more openness to spiritual topics. Spiritual growth has never been easy, but we are in a good position for this growth now.

Awareness is evolving in numerous ways. I see emerging connections between old belief systems and new ideas. Bridges now exist between traditional psychology and ancient healing ceremonies we see parallels between the new sciences and the teachings of indigenous cultures. Old beliefs, previously rejected by science as primitive and flawed, are now reflected in the new sciences.

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LightSong School of 21st Century Shamanism and Energy Medicine is dedicated to the cultivation of thriving, interlaced communities of well beings through the exploration and practice of shamanism and alternative energy medicine.